Only Time will Tell
by OceansAria
Summary: **THIS IS NOT FOR THE MOVIE, THIS IS THE BOOK** Short one-shot of Howl and Sophie after the birth of their first child, Morgan. Lots of cute fluff and stuff!


The infant was so very small and fragile curled up against its father's chest. His cheeks were rosy and plump; his eyelashes dark and long. His curls were the color of mud, and one of his little fists was wrapped around his father's pinky finger. The other was stuck firmly in his mouth.

"He's beautiful," Sophie sighed from the bed tiredly, though her eyes shone with wonder and love. Her red gold hair had come out of its braid and was splayed across the pillow behind her.

"I have to disagree with you, Sophie dear," Howl said endearingly. He rocked the baby gently in his arms. "He's ugly as an old hag. All squished up like that."

"Hey!" Sophie weakly protested, thinking back to her days as a cranky ninety-year-old. When Howl saw her try to sit up, he gently pushed her back against the pillows.

"You were a lovely hag, cariad," Howl smirked. Glancing down at the tiny bundle in his arms, he ran his free hand's finger over the tip of the baby's nose. Sophie watched him contently, too tired to argue really. After fifteen hours of labor, she was more than ready to curl up against her husband and sleep. Howl had been by her side since her water had broken yesterday afternoon; he'd sent Michael to grab their things and carried Sophie straight to the door, where he turned the knob black down.

Even though Sophie had begged and pleaded (and threatened) to be taken to a local doctor in Market Chipping, Howl had refused. He claimed that Sophie would appreciate his decision later to take her to the hospital in Wales. There, they stuck her with all sorts of needles and such and there was a beeping square that Howl said kept up with her heartrate to which she thought was ridiculous. Though Howl tried to seem calm and collected, Sophie knew that her husband was pretty close to green-sliming the walls of the delivery room. He kept pacing and muttering and messing up his carefully groomed hair. She had never seen Howl so out of sorts!

Not to mention, since they were in Wales, Howl had changed to those odd denim trousers and something he called a "T-shirt" which was the exact color of his eyes. He looked to casual for Howl. Sophie, being hugely pregnant, had been changed into a dress and then a hospital gown that showed her rear-end. Even Howl, who would usually make a comment over something like this, hadn't even glanced twice at his wife's bare back.

He was just _that_ nervous.

Finally, after screaming and mangling her husband's hand to death, there was a cry and the doctor's shouted, "It's a boy!"

Sophie had sweat pouring off her face and neck and she was in excruiating pain, but still, when they set her newborn son in her arms, she held back the line of curses. He was beautiful. He was such a perfect mixture of Howl and Sophie already. He had his father's hair and his mother's lips and the sulky little pout that Howl did when he was upset. Howl was right there with her, his eyes shining adoringly as she said, "You know, Mr. Jenkins, I do believe that Morgan _is_ the perfect name."

Howl grinned. He'd tried to convince her for months to name their child Morgan. "Oh, don't go all soft on me, Mrs. Nose." Then he took her face in his hands and kissed her, whispering that he loved her over and over again. She felt the fear leaving his body with every tremor as he kissed her, quickly being replaced with relief.

And then, after all the doctors and nurses had cleared out, it was just the Wizard, the Sorceress, and their child. They were quiet as they watched the infant sleep. When the doctors' had weighed him, they'd said he was barely seven pounds. But he was healthy and strong, and he would grow big so fast. Sophie knew from watching her younger sisters grow up how fast children grew. _Like weeds_, she thought. One minute they were tiny and helpless, and the next, they were off and married and having their own babies! Sophie sighed.

"What's got you all worked up, my little grey mouse?"

Sophie turned to her husband. Usually, she was never this sentimental, but the pregnancy and all the hormones had made her quite a bit of a softie. She reached out and stroked Morgan's soft cheek. "He won't always be this way."

Her husband nodded slowly, watching her. "No, he won't." He was not even going to sugar-coat it.

"One day he'll be big and strong and off to find his fortune," she continued.

"Yes."

"And then," she looked up into Howl's eyes, so wide and blue. "He won't even need us anymore."

Howl glanced to the child in his arms. Again, he rocked him. For a moment, he was silent as he thought.

"Well, my dear, he will grow up and he won't need us anymore," Howl said softly, almost as tender as he could get. He turned back to his wife, who's eyes were melancholy. Her usual fire had somewhat dimmed. He touched her hand. "But we'll just have to make the most of the time that we are given with him."

His eyes burned into hers. Suddenly, she leaned forward and hugged him tightly around the neck, somehow managing not to smush the baby in his arms. Surprised, he pressed his chin into her shoulder and smiled.

"I love you, Howl," she murmured. "I know I don't say it a lot, but I do."

He chuckled in that delicious way. She shivered and sat back. Morgan made a sound just then, and both turned to see what was wrong. The infant had opened his eyes, which were still that newborn-blue until they changed. He stared up at both of his parents for a long moment, and they gazed back at him.

Finally, the newborn gave them a toothless grin.

"His first smile!" Sophie exclaimed. "And he's not even an hour old!"

"He's growing up on us already," Howl said.

Instead of being dreary about it again, Sophie agreed by leaning into her husband and kissing his cheek. The newborn cooed and gurgled in his cocoon, which made the new parents grin with delight.

Then: "Howl, can you believe this?"

"Believe what, cariad?"

"That we have a baby." She picked up the child's tiny fist.

Thinking back to his past years, before Sophie, he realized that he'd never even thought of settling down. Never thought of what it would be like to have children of his own, or a wife. Without saying a word, Howl tightened his grip on his little family and thanked God for the stubborn redhead next to him.

He didn't know where he'd be without her.


End file.
